The truth about sales advice (and any advice for that matter) is…
There’s some really good sales advice. It may land perfectly for you.
Great!
Or, it may miss (and that’s okay).
Take what you like and leave the rest. Unless it’s a sales principle. Sales principles are timeless, e.g., seeking first to understand.
Sales advice, though, requires context.
Context, context, context.
Here’s a quote from a letter from the 1950s. It’s a response to a request for advice. It’s relevant to sales.
…all advice can only be a product of the man who gives it. What is truth to one may be disaster to another. I do not see life through your eyes, nor you through mine. If I were to attempt to give you specific advice, it would be too much like the blind leading the blind…
I love this quote Shane Parrish dusted off from Hunter S. Thompson.
It speaks to:
- The humility needed in sales
- The listening required to help someone make a change
- The freedom to allow them to choose